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Thread: Uber Self-Driving Truck Packed With Budweiser Makes First Delivery in Colorado

  1. #1
    Gold Member bulldog's Avatar
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    Uber Self-Driving Truck Packed With Budweiser Makes First Delivery in Colorado

    Wow, this is kind of scary to me....going to take away truck drivers if this becomes the norm; luckily new laws would have to be passed.

    Townie, since this is in your field, what you think?

    All I can say is if I saw a Big-Rig coming up on me with no driver I would freak out

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ry-in-colorado

    A tractor trailer full of beer drove itself down Colorado's I-25 last week with nobody behind the wheel. Uber Technologies Inc. and Anheuser-Busch InBev NV teamed up on the delivery, which they said is the first time a self-driving truck had been used to make a commercial shipment.
    With a police cruiser in tow, the 18-wheeler cruised more than 120 miles while a truck driver hung out back in the sleeper cab, the companies said. The delivery appears to be mostly a stunt—proof that Otto, the self-driving vehicle group that Uber acquired in July, could successfully put an autonomous truck into the wild.
    "We wanted to show that the basic building blocks of the technology are here; we have the capability of doing that on a highway," said Lior Ron, the president and co-founder of Uber's Otto unit. "We are still in the development stages, iterating on the hardware and software."
    AB InBev said it could save $50 million a year in the U.S. if the beverage giant could deploy autonomous trucks across its distribution network, even if drivers continued to ride along and supplement the technology. Those savings would come from reduced fuel costs and a more frequent delivery schedule.

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    Member Okrapp's Avatar
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    Re: Uber Self-Driving Truck Packed With Budweiser Makes First Delivery in Colorado

    This bugs me on so many levels...

    Yes, I think it's great that we have the advancement to make this sorta feasible. The tech development that goes into this makes me happy. It would seem that vehicle operators of every sort (yes, some of us too to a lesser degree) are increasingly distracted/inattentive. But,

    Electronic circuitry fails sometimes. Software glitches sometimes. Redundancies are sometimes thwarted by the circuit or code failure. I'm skeptical of the ability to code contingency for every potential variable in a situation to prevent something bad. And the connectivity of things that we so often praise is the weakest link of the potential calamities, as anything connected can be overridden remotely to detrimental effect. "even if drivers continued to ride along to supplement the technology" Uhm, nope not buying the drivers still being employed unless forced by legislation.

    All the millions/maybe billions being spent toward automated cars also raises concern for motorsport enthusiasts that can responsibly (yeah that's subjective) pilot a performance machine via public roads. Don't think it outlandish to think controlling your own vehicle on the road would eventually be banned? Dunno. Maybe for the best for many of the distracted cages we see but, maybe I'm overthinking it.
    "On a cycle the frame is gone. You're completely in contact with it all. You're in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming.” Pirsig

  3. #3
    Gold Member bulldog's Avatar
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    Re: Uber Self-Driving Truck Packed With Budweiser Makes First Delivery in Colorado

    I know one death already occurred from Tesla's autopilot

    http://www.latimes.com/business/auto...nap-story.html

    Not long after the crash, Tesla Motors Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk speculated that the Autopilot system might not have functioned properly because it could not isolate the image of the trailer from the bright sky behind it. The system’s radar, Musk said in a tweet, “tunes out what looks like an overhead road sign to avoid false braking events.”

    Bulldog's Motto: F*ck around and I'm going to bite you!!!

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    Re: Uber Self-Driving Truck Packed With Budweiser Makes First Delivery in Colorado

    we are still really far away from trucks driving themselves. this isn't anything new. the Germans had trucks out here in Nevada a few years ago. some day no one will be controlling cars but that day is still very far away.

    I am more interested in how a computer will recognize bad weather and know when to keep going or pull over. a lot of that lays in gut feelings. is this wind string enough to roll me? is that snow too dangerous? sure the weather channel can tell you a lot but until you are sitting in it no one knows what it's going to do.

    then there is always the fear of a hacked truck driving itself through a target. maybe hacking a hazmat load and driving into a towns water source?

    there is lots of bad that could come from this.

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    Gold Member asp_125's Avatar
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    Re: Uber Self-Driving Truck Packed With Budweiser Makes First Delivery in Colorado

    ... or in this case, hackers overriding this truck's systems to divert beer shipments! Luckily they weren't risking "real beer" .. only Bud. Hey, this is just another example of a (huge) drone delivering goods.
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    Gold Member bulldog's Avatar
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    Re: Uber Self-Driving Truck Packed With Budweiser Makes First Delivery in Colorado

    It may not be here yet, but it definitely seems like it is coming and the days of truck drivers could become a thing of the past. Technology will only get better and each year we are closer and closer to this becoming the norm and I all I see are thousands of trucker jobs lost. The fact they did let this one of public roads (while being monitored) shows we are getting close, so it is something to think about.

    Although it would be nice to take a nap in the backseat and let the car drive you to your destination. Heck would prevent a lot of DUI’s if people could get ripped and just have their car drive them home.
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    Member Okrapp's Avatar
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    Re: Uber Self-Driving Truck Packed With Budweiser Makes First Delivery in Colorado

    "On a cycle the frame is gone. You're completely in contact with it all. You're in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming.” Pirsig

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    Senior Member j0ker's Avatar
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    Re: Uber Self-Driving Truck Packed With Budweiser Makes First Delivery in Colorado

    "FEMA suggests we look at US research by John F. Lenkeit of Dynamic Research, Torrance, CA, which finds that existing forward collision warning systems give “inadequate results” for motorcycles in 41 percent of test cases, versus under 4 percent for cars."

    -OWCH.

  9. #9
    Gold Member bulldog's Avatar
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    Re: Uber Self-Driving Truck Packed With Budweiser Makes First Delivery in Colorado

    Great link, thank

    Yeah just another problem with these. Personally I have no idea how this could ever become safe enough with all the elements there are out there; weather, shadows, animals, glares, small vehicles, etc. So to me it is surprising we are already conducting test on public roads
    Bulldog's Motto: F*ck around and I'm going to bite you!!!

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